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1)
Hilton Pond
Our most recent banding of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Hilton
Pond
Center in 2007 was on 4 October, so we're guessing we won't be
catching any more locally until next spring. Thus, it's time for our
annual report on how successful we were at capturing new hummers and
recapturing those that returned from previous seasons.
All in all, 2007 was a very good year for ruby-throats, so we hope
you'll check out our photo essay for 15-21 October 2007 at
<<
http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek071015.html>>
As always we include a tally of other bird species banded and
recaptured during the period. There are also some notes about
Yellow-rumped Warblers and a recent visit by members of the South
Carolina Wildlife Federation.
Registration deadlines for our 2008 hummingbird banding trips to
Costa Rica are approaching; there are still some spaces available if
you'd care to miss the cold, wet winter that will surely strike most
of the U.S. come January and February. :-)

Happy Nature Watching!

BILL
"This Week at Hilton Pond" is written & photographed
by:
BILL HILTON JR., Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road
York, South Carolina 29745 USA
803-684-5852
The mission of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural
History is "to conserve plants, animals, habitats, and
other natural components of the Piedmont Region of the
eastern United States through observation, scientific
study, and education for students of all ages."

2)
The Grid Technology Cookbook
http://www.sura.org/cookbook/gtcb/index.php?topic=12&mlevel=1&parent=0 Grid computing is an extremely powerful, though complex,
research tool. The
development of the Grid Technology Cookbook is an outreach effort
targeted at
motivating and enabling research and education activities that can
benefit
from, and further advance, grid technology. The scope and level of
information
presented is intended to provide an orientation and overview of grid
technology
for a range of audiences, and to promote understanding towards effective
implementation and use.
This first version of the Grid Technology Cookbook was initiated
through
startup support from SURA (Southeastern Universities Research
Association) and
the Open Science Grid, and brought to completion with additional funding
through
a U.S. Army Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center
(TATRC) grant
to SURA. While this support was critical to the development of this first
version, the Grid Technology Cookbook is a community-driven and
participatory
effort that could not have been possible without numerous contributions
of content
and peer review from the individuals listed here.
In addition, creating a first version of a work of this type can be
particularly challenging. Everything from determining the initial
outline, to
integration of content, to review of final material begins as a grand
vision that is
then tempered by the realities of busy schedules, shifting priorities and
complicated by deadlines. We especially appreciate the commitment and
perseverance
of all contributors to version 1, and look forward to building on this
effort
for version 2, as resources permit. If you would like to support or
contribute
to future versions of the Cookbook, please contact the
co-editors.

3)
'Suited for Spacewalking' and 'Space Food and Nutrition' Educator
Guides Now Available on NASA.gov

5)"WHAT IS SCIENCE?" answer "science is
like art." ~ 7 year old kid
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Arts/HOME_Arts.htmlThe survey indicates that 80 percent of teachers said they spent less
than an hour each
week teaching science, and 16 percent said they spent no time at all.
Most of the 16 percent
were in schools that had missed math and reading benchmarks. In contrast,
a national study
conducted seven years ago found elementary science instruction averaged
more than two hours per week.

6)Space Weather News for Oct. 29, 2007
http://spaceweather.comLast week, Comet 17P/Holmes shocked sky watchers around the world
with a sudden million-fold increase in brightness. It literally
exploded into view, rapidly becoming a naked eye "star" in the
constellation Perseus. Since then the comet has expanded
dramatically. It is now physically larger than the planet Jupiter and
subtends an angle in the night sky similar to the Moon's Sea of
Tranquility, the right eye of the "Man in the Moon."
Photographers, this amazing comet is an excellent target for
off-the-shelf digital cameras and backyard telescopes. It grows
visibly from night to night and no one knows how large it will become.